Facebook's latest effort to revise its privacy policy has drawn the scrutiny of federal regulators, who are reviewing the proposed changes to see if they comply with a 2011 legal settlement that resulted from an earlier government investigation.

The social networking company says it hasn't changed the meaning of its policy, but only wants to revise some of the language to explain more clearly how it uses members' information for such purposes as targeted advertising.

Privacy watchdogs have blasted the new language, which the company released Aug. 29, by saying it appears to give Facebook more leeway to use individual members' names, profile pictures and other information in the ads that it shows to other people on the social network.

After a U.S. senator, Massachusetts Democrat Edward Markey, voiced those concerns in a letter to the Federal Trade Commission this week, an FTC spokesman confirmed Thursday that his agency is looking into the matter, although it has not opened a formal investigation.

A key element of the controversy centers on Facebook's proposal to eliminate a section of its member "rights and responsibilities" document that now says: "You can use your privacy settings to limit how your name and profile picture may be associated with commercial, sponsored or related content."

Facebook is proposing to start that section by saying: "You give us permission" to use a variety of information in advertising or other messages. It adds: "If you have selected a specific audience for your content or information, we will respect your choice when we use it."

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Critics say the new language lets Facebook assume that members have given their permission by default, unless they change their privacy settings. The new document also eliminates a direct link to the privacy settings page on Facebook's website.

In addition, privacy groups complain the new policy tells minors that if they're on Facebook, the company assumes a parent or guardian has approved letting Facebook use the minor's name, photo or other information.

Some critics have raised concerns about a third change that says Facebook can apply its facial recognition software to a member's profile photo, so the software can identify the person in other pictures and suggest a caption or "tag" with the member's name.

Facebook says the new language is partly aimed at complying with a legal settlement in a recent class-action lawsuit, in which members complained that Facebook used their names or photos in ads without their consent. Without admitting wrongdoing in that case, Facebook agreed to pay $20 million and more clearly explain to members how it uses their information.

But Markey and other critics say the changes may violate the company's 2011 agreement with the FTC, which requires Facebook to obtain members' permission before changing how it uses their information.

In a statement Thursday, Facebook said: "We take these issues very seriously and are confident that our policies are fully compliant with our agreement with the FTC."

Contact Brandon Bailey at 408-920-5022; follow him at Twitter.com/BrandonBailey.